A team of materials science researchers, including Paul Braun, studied how heat flows across an interface at an atomic level.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Through a combination of atomic-scale materials design and ultrafast measurements, researchers at the University of Illinois have revealed new insights about how heat flows across an interface between two materials. The researchers demonstrated that a single layer of atoms can disrupt or enhance heat flow across an interface. Their results are published this week. Improved control of heat exchange is a key element to enhancing the performance of current technologies such as integrated circuits and combustion engines as well as emerging technologies such as thermoelectric devices, which harvest renewable energy from waste heat. However, achieving control is hampered by an incomplete understanding of how heat is conducted through and between materials. "Heat travels through electrically insulating material via 'phonons,' which are collective vibrations of atoms that travel like waves through a material," said David Cahill, a Willett Professor and the head of materials science and engineering at Illinois and co-author of the paper.
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